Animation Directors Break Down This Year's Amazing Crop Of Films

When we reported on DreamWorks Animation possibly losing $50 million on the holiday adventure Rise of the Guardians, one of the reasons we speculated that audiences might have avoided the film at the box office was the glut of quality animated movies in theaters at the moment. Families were coming off the back-to-back one-two punches of Hotel Transylvania ($143.6M) and Wreck-It Ralph ($158.4M) that it’s possible audiences were experiencing animation fatigue.

The entire year, in general, has been very, very good for animation, as this roundtable discussion with award-worthy animation directors proves. In preparation for the Oscar season, the L.A. Times gathered the creative minds behind the year’s top animation movies for a lengthy conversation about their processes. Oddly enough, this is the first annual Envelope-sponsored animation discussion, which is odd because animators are such an open, inventive and talkative bunch, that they really showed have been showcased earlier. Hopefully this is the start of something special.

It’s highly likely that these films will be representing the Oscar slots in the animation category at next year’s Academy Awards. If they aren’t, the features that weren’t represented here include the teams for Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and The Pirates! Band of Misfits. This truly was a golden year for animation, and this clip is a welcome reminder of how lucky audiences who appreciate animated movies happen to be at this point.